Waukegan Public Schools announced on Apr. 22 that its Family and Community Engagement Department will host the annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Festival on Thursday, May 7, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Jack Benny Middle School.
The event aims to celebrate Asian-American culture and community with a theme of an Asian Night Market, featuring food, games, interactive activities such as regional carnival games, henna tattoos, a student passport experience, and live performances by Yellow River Performing Arts, Glenwood Elementary Dance Team, Bollywood Groove, and 360 Entertainment.
Families attending the festival can enjoy free food provided by Lillie Mae’s Catering, Pinoy Grill, Hello Boba Truck, and Da Local Boy Cafe. The district said in its announcement: “We hope you can join us for this special event. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] with any questions.”
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 serves Lake County and includes schools such as Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary School, Carman-Buckner Elementary School, Clearview Elementary School, Daniel Webster Middle School, Early Learning Center, Glen Flora Elementary School, Glenwood Elementary School (whose dance team is performing), Greenwood Elementary School among others according to the Illinois Report Card.
The district enrolled 15,332 students in the 2019-2020 school year across grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Waukegan and Lake County according to the Illinois Report Card. Demographically it is comprised of approximately 3.2 percent White students; 13.2 percent Black; 79.5 percent Hispanic; and 1.3 percent Asian according to the Illinois State Board of Education.
District spending was $23,429 per student in fiscal year 2020 for a total expenditure of $359 million according to state data. Teacher statistics show there are over one thousand teachers earning an average salary of $63,524 before pension contributions; women make up about seventy-one percent of faculty while men comprise twenty-nine percent; no teacher had more than ten absences in a school year according to official records.
Chronic truancy remains an issue within the district: In the most recent data available from ISBE for the year ending in June of that period there were over three thousand chronically truant students—defined as missing five percent or more days without valid excuse—which equates to twenty-one percent compared with a statewide average near ten percent as reported by ISBE.
